PE-backed Ontex valued at up to €1.35bn in upcoming IPO

The indicative price range has been set at €16.5-20.5 per share.

The company plans on selling 7 million existing shares and around €325m of new shares, which equates to a maximum of 19.7 million shares at the bottom end of the indicative price range.

The selling shareholders – including Whitehaven, the holding company owned by GS Capital and TPG – have granted an overallotment option of shares equal in quantity to 15% of the number of initial offer shares. An increase option of the same criteria has also been granted.

Assuming that both options are exercised in full, the overall size of the offering will sit at €583-620m and will give Ontex a market cap of €1.15-1.35bn and an enterprise value of €1.74-1.94bn.

Based on an enterprise value of €1.94bn, the flotation would value Ontex at 11x 2013's adjusted EBITDA.

Ontex will use the proceeds from the new shares sale to pay down its existing debt by €280m.

unquote" reported that Ontex was planning to float at the beginning of May.

Admission to the stock exchange is expected to take place on 25 June. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and UBS have been appointed joint global coordinators and international bookrunners for the flotation. TPG is acting as international co-manager while KBC Securites and Petercam are joint lead managers.

The flotation will mark the second time that the Belgian company has gone public. In January 2003, Candover took the business private for slightly more than €1bn, €430m of which was provided as equity, €510m as senior debt and a further €165m from a syndicate of mezzanine lenders.

The transaction comprised the acquisition of 6.8 million shares, representing a stake of 77.96% in the company, according to unquote" data. The fund then launched a takeover bid to delist Ontex from the Brussels exchange.

The deal marked the largest ever buyout in Belgium at the time, though this was then overtaken by GS Capital and TPG's secondary buyout of the business in July 2010 for €1.2bn.

The two firms each contributed €265m, with the balance of €670m provided as debt by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, according to unquote" data. An auction process for the sale of Ontex commenced in 2009 and attracted several GPs, though GS Capital's initial bid fell through when its original partner backed out of the potential deal.

Ontex was founded in 1979. The business is headquartered in Zele with 12 manufacturing facilities across eight countries, and sales offices in 11 countries.

Ontex produces disposable hygiene products for the private label sector such as nappies, baby wipes and feminine care products.

The business employs 4,250 staff. It recorded revenues of €1.49bn in 2013 – a 14% year-on-year increase – as well as an EBITDA of €156.3m and an adjusted EBITDA of €173.6m. The company's net debt as of December 2013 stood at €849.3m.

Charles Bouaziz is the CEO of Ontex.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Benelux
• Consumer
• Exits
• Belgium
• IPO
• TPG Capital
• Goldman Sachs